The continued increase in semiconductor processing performance along with the continued decline in the cost of semiconductor devices has resulted in the emergence of “high tech” consumer products such as handheld devices capable of providing, among other things, cell phone communications, Internet communications and entertainment applications. The iPod™ and iPhone™ products offered by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. are a good example. The iPod™ is a handheld entertainment device that couples non-volatile storage and processing resources to store and playback entertainment files (e.g., music files). The iPhone™, like the iPod™, includes the ability to store and playback entertainment files—but also—possesses additional capabilities such as cell phone and Internet communications.
FIGS. 1 and 2 depict pertinent aspects of the designs for the iPod™ and iPhone™ products as they currently exist. FIG. 1 depicts, at a high level, an iPod™ 102 being used as a local, external storage device. According to this application, the storage resource(s) 104 of the iPod™ are extended to store not only entertainment files, but also, conceivably, “anything” a user or owner of the iPod™ might wish to store on it (e.g., word processing application documents, JPEG photos, etc.). Here, the basic functionality of an iPod™ (i.e., entertainment related file storage and playback) is extended to include the basic functionality of a “memory-stick” or other portable, external non volatile storage device. According to the depiction of FIG. 1, when an iPod™ 102 is plugged into a personal computer (PC) 100, for instance through one of the PC's local I/O ports (e.g., a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port), the iPod™ 102 appears to the user as an additional storage drive (see, inset 120 of FIG. 1).
The computing systems architecture of this arrangement, shown simplistically in FIG. 1, includes a PC 100 interconnected to an iPod™ 102 through a USB 101. Here, in order for an application software program 103 executing on the PC 100 to employ the non volatile storage resources 104 of the iPod™ 102 as local, external storage (akin to a memory stick), the application software program 103 invokes the USB driver 106 (e.g., through an operating system or directly). The USB driver 107 and operating system 108 on the iPod™ cooperatively assist the PC 100 in accessing the iPod™'s non volatile storage resources 104 (which may be semiconductor based such as FLASH memory, or magnetic based such as a hard disk drive).
FIG. 2 shows the current design point of the iPhone™ product. A pertinent difference between the iPod™ and the iPhone™ is that the iPhone™, being a cell phone and Internet access device, is connected to a proprietary network 209 over which various services are provided (e.g., an iTunes™ service 210 (over which entertainment files such as music and/or video files are uploaded, downloaded, ordered, etc.); a cell phone telecommunications service; an Internet service provider service, etc.). The iPhone™ is designed primarily to use these services by wirelessly accessing 211 the network 209 and therefore includes a wireless wide area network (WWAN) I/O interface 212. The PC 200 also has a WAN interface 213 (e.g., a DSL line) through which the iTunes™ web site 210 can be reached.
In operation, iTunes™ or iPhone™ specific application software 203 running on the PC 200 is able to download/upload entertainment files, calendaring information, contact information, etc. to/from the iPhone™'s 202 non volatile storage resources. Note that, like FIG. 1, the physical connection between the PC 200 and the iPhone™ 202 flows through a local I/O port of the PC 200 (such as the PC's USB port 206).
However, architecturally speaking, note that the informational flow between the PC 200 and the iPhone™ 202 crosses the proprietary network 209. Thus, from the perspective of the PC 200, the iPhone™ is reachable only through the proprietary network 209 (even though it is actually locally connected through the USB 201). However, a drawback of this approach is that, currently, only iTunes™ or iPhone™ specific application software 203 is able to use the non volatile storage resources of the iPhone™. Said another way, unlike an iPod™, an iPhone™ cannot be used as a generic memory stick capable of storing “any” kind of information that the user might desire to store.